Comments on: Throwing Down the Baton

By: Aelfweard

Aelfweard — Sat, 22 May 2010 00:57:35 +0000

Glenn Gould was mad as a box of frogs and suffered from numerous psychological problems including paranoia, which explain his feeling that the audience was out to get him.

Music is not just some theoretical exercise, it is a form of communication and as such works best live.

It is true that occasionally audiences misbehave but in my experience as someone who has attended classical concerts for more than 30 years, it is rare. The coughing can be annoying but it isn’t caused by rudeness but by the precious attitude of some performers.

If you say to someone, “Don’t think about pink elephants” they will. If you (implicitly) say “Don’t cough!” it will make people think about it and cough involuntarily – very few people who cough in concerts do not feel self-conscious about it and wish they could stop.

As for mobile phones, well that’s a different matter…

By: Eric

Eric — Fri, 21 May 2010 15:12:35 +0000

Mostly i disagree with this “precious” model of music performance.
I am a connoisseur and participant in Indian classical music which demands audience participation in the form of spoken encouragement when the artist does something worthy of comment – perhaps this is a function of the nature of the music – mostly improvised – just as we see the same kind of audience feedback in live Jazz. It seems to me that if you want total silence while performing, make a recording – we are human and as such are social, emotional, connected beings – we need interaction.
That said, it is rude and thoughtless to make noise that is unconnected to the performance, chatting, texting, eating, etc

By: Rob Davidson

Rob Davidson — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 17:06:07 +0000

The attitude of requiring audiences to be silent is comparatively recent and to my mind way too clinical and dull. It’s refreshing to be in a classical concert in India where the audience is as involved as a good jazz audience, making lots of little sighs and gasps of appreciation, just as it was for most of “classical music”’s history in the West.

Thank god I play in an amplified band where audience participation is not a problem – in fact, the lack of it is a problem. No wonder I rarely sit through church-like classical concerts these days.

By: Marc

Marc — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 17:45:29 +0000

This article is a perfect example of the ivory tower that artists live in. WE pay to see you. Our tax dollars allow you the liberty of devoting your life to art (as opposed to getting a real job).

Silly artsies.

By: Bee

Bee — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 04:39:55 +0000

I’m very puzzled by this article. As a visual artist, I was taught that everything that the viewer sees is part of the visual experience, not just what is within the confines of the canvas (or sculpture, installation, etc.), which is why gallery and museum exhibitions are set up in particular ways, paying attention to the dynamics of the room, the lighting, etc. The idea is not to create a completely sterile environment, but an active one that, while it is visually quiet, is not mute. Other visitors are part of how one experiences the art.

With music performances, that is all the more true. Popular music thrives on audience participation, and in fact requires it to become fully present. The emotional response of the audience is an essential part of the show. Attending a rock concert where everyone is quiet would be downright bizarre.

Classical music evokes highly emotional responses as well, and while it may not be appropriate to whoop and holler, because of the intense and focused nature of that style of music, I want to see other audience members be moved, and be human. Coughing and shifting in one’s seat is natural, and I welcome it. It’s an integral part of appreciating the music collectively.

By: Judith Shatin

Judith Shatin — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 14:15:39 +0000

I am saddened to see this article. What about the thrill of live performance, the vulnerability, the not-knowing-in-advance, the social experience, the sensuous sensations. Of course it’s great to have recordings that enable us to hear music again and again, or to hear music we otherwise have no access to. But to deny the power of live performance because people make noise is to deny the very on-the-edge experience of in-the-moment music-making.

Classical music, like other music, can provide deep and rich experiences. Yes, it would be great if all halls had comfortable chairs. But they don’t – and true of other musics as well. It doesn’t matter when you’re sitting on the edge taking in the music and theatre of live performance.

By: WWarren

WWarren — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 02:40:59 +0000

Music should be the absence of pleasure. Music should be lifeless.

If the goal of music is to give someone an experience, it should be noted that this experience is achieved emotionally; listening to music is not the great exercise in intellectual activity that studying compositions may be.

The point? Music changes you on a biological level when its worth its weight. Your pulse, the rhythm of your breath, they change! Are we to sit still through these changes, and become completely out of touch with the experience our minds and bodies are having? You may be attentive and you may enjoy yourself, but the essence of the music, the very purpose of the music–its spirit, is lost when its heard from a position of paralysis in an uncomfortable chair.

Classical music is suicidal.

By: laila

laila — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 04:19:46 +0000

“I can honestly say that I do not recall ever feeling better about the quality of a performance because of the presence of an audience.” Glenn Gould

What a shame! As a professional dancer, I’m sorry that he hasn’t had that experience. To me, nothing enhances a performance like a lively audience.

I find it a little odd that live entertainment in a lounge is expected to be received in rapt silence…or perhaps I’m misunderstanding the term ‘lounge’? After all, in a concert setting, the audience has (we hope) come to see the performance. In a lounge or other informal setting, the patrons are there to relax, socialize, and enjoy themselves. From first-hand experience, I can say that performing in these venues can be disheartening. But this is the tradeoff for regular, bread-and-butter work, particularly in the early stages of a career; we get to earn a little cash and gain experience and exposure in the world of professional performing arts in return for providing a little background atmosphere at a place with a bartender. When I dance at a restaurant, I don’t expect the patrons to put down their forks, ignore their dinner companions, and pay rapt attention to me, because the evening is *not* about the performer in that situation. We are just providing one piece of the experience they’re paying for.

By: Ivor S.

Ivor S. — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 09:04:27 +0000

“At the Calder Quartet performance in Los Angeles the noise reached a crescendo.”
I think you mean “reached a climax”.

It is surely shocking that some audience members actually don’t CARE if they are spoiling other peoples’ enjoyment.

And it’s not much better than some coughers appear quite unaware of the effect of their coughing on others.

On the other hand, I fear Glenn was, and Jet is, a perfectionist. Perfectionism is unhealthy.

Some audience members who

By: Dallis Radamaker

Dallis Radamaker — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 07:49:12 +0000

Just found amusing the reference to Alfred Brendel stopping his performance at the Kennedy
Center and threatening not to resume unless the coughing stopped, since I believe he is one
of those pianists who is infamous for groaning and moaning over his own playing as though
in the throes of unbearable suffering or of pre-orgasmic ecstacies. I can’t imagine the
coughing of his audiences being more annoying than his own extraneous noise.